'Bribery' is right there in the Constitution
By Ari Melber
Oct. 19, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) has described President Trumps public call for a foreign government to investigate former vice president Joe Bidens family as an abuse of power. Ditto former congressman and 2020 presidential candidate Beto ORourke (D-Texas). Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has characterized Trumps recent conduct including his July 25 phone call with Ukraines president as brazen efforts to pressure foreign powers to intervene in the 2020 elections, adding that continued efforts to hide the truth of the Presidents abuse of power from the American people will be regarded as further evidence of obstruction.
For congressional Democrats considering impeachment, there is a case to be made that the Constitutions reference to high Crimes and Misdemeanors applies to Trumps alleged Ukraine plot, charges of a coverup or possible obstruction of justice. And there would be nothing unusual about Congress considering several articles of impeachment: The House voted on four articles against President Bill Clinton obstruction passed, abuse of power failed and 11 against President Andrew Johnson. The Senate ultimately voted on two articles against Clinton and three against Johnson.
Amid a series of House investigations, however, and several public, potentially incriminating admissions by Trump, Democrats havent settled on a core legal rationale for impeachment, which is striking, considering the Constitutions answer is staring them in the face. Trumps statements and actions with regard to Ukraine appear to fit one of the few offenses the Constitution specifically lists as impeachable ...
The legal case would be that Trump offered a bribe. He encouraged Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky to do us a favor and look into, among other things, the Biden family. Trump would later acknowledge that goal, telling reporters on Oct. 3 that he wanted Zelensky to start a major investigation into the Bidens. Evidence and testimony from inside the Trump administration, meanwhile, suggests that the sought after benefit an investigation of Trumps rival was conditioned on U.S. government action: Administration officials have referenced apparent conditions on both a coveted White House meeting between the two leaders, and on disbursement of millions in military aid, pending Ukraines government announcing an investigation of the Bidens ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/19/bribery-is-right-there-constitution-trump-could-be-impeached-that/